


of crowns and compromises

by seemeeimbeebee



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Curse, Charming Dragon brotp, Emma still has magic, Evil Queen | Regina Mills & Emma Swan Friendship, Evil Queen | Regina Mills & Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard Friendship, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Lily can still turn into a dragon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-11-19 18:38:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11319276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seemeeimbeebee/pseuds/seemeeimbeebee
Summary: Summary: “At Emma’s coronation ceremony, Snow White joked that her daughter had diplomatic prowess since she was born.After all, what other child could squash a decades old feud between her parents, a dragon and the Evil Queen at age six?”A no curse AU where Emma is able to squash the years long feud between her parents and the Evil Queen in one night.





	of crowns and compromises

At Emma’s coronation ceremony, Snow White joked that her daughter had diplomatic prowess since she was born.

After all, what other child could squash a decades old feud between her parents, a dragon and the Evil Queen at age six?

Emma smiled fondly at her mother, and looked over at her best friend and her two godmothers. “Mama,” she complained half-heartedly, her cheeks turning pink. “I didn’t end the feud between you and Regina. You did.”

“That’s definitely not true,” Regina said dryly, sipping at her wine.

* * *

 

Even though the curse had been cast, Emma was still born with magical powers. A more surprising fact which surprised all who knew her, both magical beings and those who had no magic at all, was that she’d had control of her magic almost from the beginning. There would be nights where Snow would wake up in the rocking chair in her daughter’s room, just as Emma was starting to whine.

So when Emma decided that she wanted out of her bedroom at night at age four, there was no way of stopping her. The only reason they were able to figure out she was leaving her room at all was the little handprints in the flour in the kitchen, and little fistfuls missing from cakes or pies the next morning. The servants would see the missing desserts, and go up to check on the princess, who was tucked in fast asleep, looking angelic as ever. 

Other times, Emma would play tricks on people like Red or Granny when she was bored and wanted their attention. Even with their wolf abilities, they could never quite catch her in the act, and would only hear a tiny giggle through a haze of white smoke. Privately, Red and Granny would admit that Emma’s tricks were always cute and relatively harmless (barring one incident that involved a candle, but Emma scared herself with that trick and promised to never _ever_ do it again).

Snow and Charming were at least thankful that they were able to explain to their daughter why pilfering sweets were bad at night, and that playing pranks on people because she could disappear was not a very nice thing to do.

“Sorry, Mama. Sorry, Papa,” she would mumble, her little blond head bowed. Charming could only stand about thirteen seconds of this before he scooped his daughter up into his arms and peppered her face with kisses until she began to giggle again.

“Charming, we’re trying to raise a princess here, not a wild enchantress,” Snow laughed, her grin only growing wider when he began to tickle their daughter.

“But look at her, Snow, she’s super- _duper_ sorry,” Charming would say with a pout, leaning his head against his daughter’s, their green eyes sparkling with mischief. “Aren’t you, sweet pea?”

“Super-duper- _mega_ sorry,” Emma would say, beaming widely when Snow would take her out of Charming’s arms and pull her close. “I love you, Mama.”

“I love you too, Emma. More than I can say.”

* * *

“Mama? Can we play hide and seek in the gardens today?” Emma asked sweetly one morning. “You promised on my birthday that we would play together and we haven’t yet." 

“I did promise, didn’t I?” Snow asked softly, kneeling down, stroking a strand of blond hair out of her face. Emma nodded and Snow pulled her close. “My big girl. Six years old now. Soon you’ll be so big that there won’t be anywhere for you to hide.” She kissed her daughter’s forehead and smiled when Emma wrapped her arms around her neck.

“Can Papa come?” Emma queried hopefully, resting her head on her mother’s shoulder as Snow stood up. They continued to walk through the gardens together, Snow holding Emma against her hip.

“No, sweet pea, he’s in a meeting with the Council,” Snow murmured. Emma wrinkled her nose in distaste, and Snow chuckled. “Well he can’t play with you all the time,” she told her daughter, tickling her gently.

“When I’m Queen, there will be no more meetings ever,” Emma declared through her giggles. “I never want to go to meetings. Papa says that they’re _boring_. The kingdom shall only be fun.”

“Do you know what those meetings are for?” Snow asked her. Emma shook her head. “Well, your Papa and I meet with the Council and people from the town so we can keep all the citizens of our kingdom safe. Right now, Papa is meeting with some farmers because it is supposed to be very cold this winter, colder than usual, and we need to make sure all of our people survive, and that they have enough food and water.”

“Oh,” Emma said quietly. She thought this statement over for a moment, before saying, “Mama? Will I have to do those meetings too?”

“One day you will, when you get older,” Snow told her gently. She saw the pensive look on her daughter’s face. “The most important job a king or queen has,” she explained. “Is to make sure that their people are safe and protected.” She thought for a moment before adding, “Do you know how the knights in the castle protect us from people who might try to hurt us?”   
  
Emma nodded. “The knights are my friends and they will play with me when I go outside when everyone else is too busy,” she replied brightly. The smile fell from her face after a moment’s reflection. “Mama? The people in villages…they don’t have knights, do they?”

“No, they don’t,” Snow murmured gently, pressing a kiss to her daughter’s furrowed brow. “That’s why your Papa and I go to those meetings. So we can be a knight for our people.”

“Maybe when I’m Queen I’ll go to _some_ meetings. Only the helpful ones. Not the boring ones,” Emma said quietly. Snow laughed softly and kissed her forehead.

“Your Majesty! Snow!” Red called, rushing toward them. “Some villagers saw a dragon flying over the eastern borders of the land.”

“A dragon?” Emma murmured, eyes filled with wonder. She had never seen one up close before. Only in her picture book. A big, scaly monster with big wings and blew fire. Knights in all the stories destroyed the dragons to save princesses. She puffed out her chest, thinking about defending her people from the mean and fearsome dragon.

“Was _she_ with the dragon?” Snow asked softly. Red nodded, biting her lip. Emma glanced up at her mother. Snow’s lips were pulled into a taut line as she was thinking. “Okay. Take Emma inside, I’m going to tell the Council.” She looked down her daughter. “You’ll be good for your Auntie Red, yes, Emma Ruth?”

“Yes, Mama,” Emma promised, letting Snow pass her off to her Aunt. “Do you want to play hide and seek, Auntie Red?”

Red smiled sadly, dropping a kiss against her hair. “Maybe later when your Mama and Papa have taken care of the dragon. Let’s go read some stories, duckling.”

* * *

Emma tossed and turned in her bed. Mama and Papa hadn’t come to tuck her into bed. Auntie Red had said it was because they were still meeting with the council, and hopefully they would come eat breakfast with her in the morning. “Well this won’t do,” she mumbled to herself. Mama and Papa were supposed to tuck her in to bed _every_ night. They promised.

  
She peered out of the window, curiously. If she could find the dragon, then Mama and Papa could tuck her in and they could all play hide and seek together. And she could help all the people if she went to go stop the dragon herself. 

So it was decided: she was going to go get the dragon all by herself.

  
She closed her eyes and waved her hand. A cold rush of air surrounded her and she landed in a soft bed of leaves with a quiet “oof!”. Emma giggled, but then realized she was a little cold in only her nightdress. She scrunched up her nose and squeezed her eyes as tightly as she could and waved her hand again. 

Instead of her nightgown, she was now dressed in her riding trousers and boots, her favorite white riding shirt, and a red coat that mother had given her for her birthday.  “Okay, let’s go stop a dragon,” she said quietly to herself.

An owl hooted in the distance and Emma jumped a little bit. “Be brave, like Mama and Papa. Be brave like a knight…I just wish I knew where to find a dragon.” A golden trail appeared at Emma’s feet and she eagerly followed it.  

  
The trail got brighter and brighter the closer Emma got to…wherever her final destination was. She didn’t quite know, but she was eager to beat the dragon. As she got closer, she heard snarls, and the scuffle tiny feet. Men spoke in hushed voices, and Emma saw spurts of fire. 

_That must be the dragon! Don’t worry, villagers! I’m on my way_! she thought, pushing herself to go faster. She realized she didn’t have a sword, so she squeezed her eyes as tightly as she could, and her sword--that Papa had made for her _special_ —appeared in her hands. They hadn’t practiced yet, but Emma was confident that she knew how to use it. She’d seen Mama and Papa do it all the time.

She peeked through the bushes and couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. There was a group of five men, surrounded what appeared to be a dragon, but the dragon didn’t seem to be very large or very menacing. It let out little spurts of fire and tried to claw at the men surrounded it. The men were laughing at it, and kicking at it when it tried to escape. The little thing let out pained cries, and one of the men sneered, “How much you think we’re gonna get on the market for baby dragon blood?”

_A baby? Where’s its Mama?_ Emma thought worriedly, looking up at the skies for the sign of another dragon. But sky was clear. Her Mama’s words about being a knight for the people rang through her ears. If no one was going to save the baby dragon, she would just have to do it.

“Let it go!” Emma proclaimed loudly, stepping through the bush. The men all turned to her, staring at her in disbelief.

  
One man stepped forward, his eyes glinting dangerously by the firelight of his torch. “And who is gonna make us?” he snarled softly.

“Princess Emma of Misthaven,” she retorted, puffing out her little chest with pride, pointing her sword at the group of men. “By order of the princess, I command that you put that dragon down and _leave_.”

The man lunged forward and grabbed her hair, jerking her head upward. Emma let out a shriek of terror and dropped her sword, wildly trying to fight. “Shut up!” the man growled, smacking her across the cheek. The shock of the impact sent her reeling into the baby dragon, whose body stopped her from falling. He turned back to his men with a leer. “How much do you think we’d get for a stolen princess, men?”

Emma had no idea what to do. Her heart was beating so fast and she didn’t know how she was going to get away; she was so scared. “Mama!” she howled tearfully.

The man kicked her and she whimpered. “No one can hear you out here,” he growled lowly. “No one’s coming.”

A loud roar sounded through the trees. Emma covered her head and squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she were home. But it didn’t work. She heard the men running, and little squawks of delight coming from the baby dragon. _That must be the dragon’s Mama…_ She began to cry, wanting her Mama and wanting to go home.   
  
A wind blew over her and suddenly there was a small hand on her head. “Hey?” a voice piped up. “Are you okay? That man hit you really hard…”  
  
“Let me see, Lily.” A woman this time, gathered Emma up in her arms.

Emma looked up at the woman and rubbed her eyes. “Where’d the dragons go?” she croaked out, looking around for them.

  
“Hi!” another little girl piped up. “’m Lily! Thanks for coming to rescue me! We’re best friends now!” 

“Are you Lily’s Mama?” Emma asked, looking up at the woman holding her.

 The woman nodded. “My name is Maleficent. Thank you for saving my Lily. You were very brave. Can you tell me your name and where you live?”

 “M’name’s Emma and I…I live at the palace,” Emma sniffled.  She began to cry, wanting her own mother more than ever. Her cheek hurt, her palms were all scratched up, and she just wanted to go home. But she had no idea how to get there, and she didn’t think her new friend could get her home either. “I want my Mama…”

“Shh, shh,” Maleficent soothed, cradling Emma closer like her own mother would. “It’s very dark now, and I can’t fly you and Lily because you’ll fall. But I can take you home in the morning, okay?”

“Th-that man said he was going to kidnap me,” Emma wailed. “I want to go home. I want my Mama and my Papa.”

“Okay,” Maleficent murmured. “I’m going to take you to my wife, who will help, okay? She has magic, and she can take you to back to your Mama.”

“Mama says ‘m not supposed to go with strangers,” Emma whimpered. “I just wanna go home to my Mama an’ my Papa.”

Lily slipped her hand into Emma’s. “She’s not a stranger. She’s my Mama. And you’ll meet my other Mama. ‘s okay. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” Emma curled into the arms holding her and closed her eyes tightly. The familiar tug of magic curled up around her and they disappeared into the night.

* * *

 

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” Snow snarled, pacing back and forth in their daughter’s room. “My daughter is gone, and Regina and Maleficent are back in our kingdom.” David was sitting on Emma’s bed, her little stuffed bear in his arms. “Red can’t even find her scent because magic got her in and out of this room! It had to have been Regina. There’s no other magical being that would want to take our daughter!”

“Snow, Emma’s prone to—”

“Don’t tell me what our daughter is prone to do!” Snow exclaimed, running a hand through her hair. “I should’ve…I should’ve…I should’ve tucked her in, I should’ve checked in on her…” Her breaths came out in terrified, panicked gasps. Their little girl wasn’t on the castle grounds, she was lost and alone somewhere, probably frightened. The thought overwhelmed her, and Snow could swear she heard her daughter calling out for her. With a sob, she collapsed onto the bed, burying her face in her hands. “I just want to find our baby, David.”  
  
David’s arms came around her, burying his face in her shoulder. “She’ll come home to us, Snow. She’s our true love. If…if she was hurt, really hurt, we would know. Take solace in that,” he said, thought it seemed like he was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince her. “She’s okay. She’s got to be.”

“What if Regina has her?” Snow demanded, tearing herself away and heading toward the window. “What if Regina kidnapped her?”

“Even Regina wouldn’t hurt a child,” David replied with a frown, coming to stand by his wife. He stood beside her and rubbed her shoulder. “We’ll find her, Snow. We will always find her.”

* * *

 

“You did _what_?” Regina asked, looking at the child asleep in Maleficent’s arms. “Do you know that’s their daughter? If they weren’t going to come after us before, they’re certainly going to come after us now.” 

“She saved my life, Mommy,” Lily piped up softly. Regina softened as she looked at her daughter. She knelt down and opened her arms; Lily ran to her mother’s embrace and nuzzled in close.

“What did we say about this land?” Regina asked, her voice firm but still loving and gentle, as she quickly catalogued any injuries that Lily might’ve gotten.

“Notta go outside at night because you and Mama won’t be able to protect me at night,” Lily repeated dolefully. “‘m sorry, Mommy.”

“It’s okay,” Regina admitted softly. “I’m just glad you’re okay.” She held Lily a little bit closer, running her fingers through her daughter’s hair, looking over at her wife. “We can’t just go drop her off. Snow and Charming would consider it an act of war.” She began to pace with Lily in her arms.

“This is very different from the Regina that had been banished from this realm,” Maleficent replied patiently, an amused quirk to her lips.

“Well that Regina didn’t have love or a child to protect,” Regina grumbled. Glowering over at her wife, she added, “I could still be the Evil Queen if I needed to!”   
  
“I’m not asking you to though I have no doubt of that,” Maleficent replied, stepping across the room to hold her wife’s hand. “The whole point of coming back was to distance ourselves from them, wasn’t it? To reside in your castle and just…let it go.”

“I still wouldn’t trust myself not to incinerate her when I saw her,” Regina replied. “Which is why we’re on the other side of the kingdom.” To her daughter, she turned and added, “How did you get so far from home?”

“I flew,” Lily said with a proud puff of her chest. Maleficent looked proud and impressed while Regina looked panicked and slightly horrified. “I flew all by myself but then I got hitted with a rock and so I fell. An’ then these men were kickin’ me an’ wouldn’t let me fly--”   
  
“What?” Regina said, whipping her head around, looking over at her wife. “Where are these men now? And more importantly, why haven’t we torn them limb from limb?”

“They’re taken care of,” Maleficent said tersely. “They hurt her too,” she said, gesturing with her head to the child in her arms. Emma was asleep, fear and adrenaline wiping her out. “She leapt out of the bushes to defend our girl.”

Regina softened fractionally, until she saw the large bruise on Emma’s cheek. “I’m going to find them and tear their hearts from their chests,” she swore.

Emma’s eyes fluttered open. “Mama?” she croaked out hopefully. Her eyes widened when she looked at Regina. “It’s the Evil Queen!” She began fighting her way out of Maleficent’s arms, hitting the woman in the chin. Emma scampered away into a corner and covered her head.

“Hey!” Lily exclaimed angrily. “That’s not the Evil Queen, that’s my Mommy! What you said was mean! Take it back!”

“I know you from the stories!” Emma replied, looking up fearfully at Regina. “You were gonna hurt my Mama and Papa!” She looked at Maleficent accusingly. “You said you were gonna take me somewhere safe!”

Regina sighed. “Emma…”

“How do you know my name?” Emma asked in a wobbling voice, holding her knees tightly to her chest.

“Because when your Mama was little, she always wanted to name her daughter Emma,” Regina replied, closing her eyes. “I remember finding out your name the day you were born. You have a very pretty name.”

“How did you know my Mama before?” Emma asked curiously, unfurling slightly.

“It’s…complicated,” Regina sighed, sitting on the floor beside Emma. “I knew your Mama so long ago, it was before I was the Evil Queen. Your Mama tried to help me, but I didn’t listen then. I don’t really want to be the mean, old Evil Queen anymore.”

“What’s your name?” Emma asked softly, no longer afraid of the other woman. She climbed a little bit closer to the Evil Queen.  

Regina smiled fondly, briefly seeing her ten year old stepdaughter for a moment when she looked down at Emma. “I’m Regina.”

 

* * *

 

“Both of you, step away from my daughter,” Snow demanded, her sword drawn. She hadn’t slept the entire night, and Regina and Maleficent just…appeared in her throne room. “Emma, honey, it’s okay. You’re gonna be fine. They’re not gonna hurt you. Mama and Papa won’t let them.”

“I know,” Emma chirped back, wriggling out of Regina’s arms and bounding straight for her mother.

Snow met her halfway across the room and pulled her little girl tightly to her chest, peppering her face with kisses. “Oh, Emma, I’m so glad you’re all right,” she whispered, pressing her forehead to her daughter’s. Her fingers trailed gently across the bruise on her cheek. “What did you do to her, Regina?” she demanded, stepping forward.

Regina summoned a fireball, glowering at Snow White. “Ask me what happened again,” she hissed.

David drew his sword and stepped forward. “How dare you take our daughter from us!” he roared.  
  
Maleficent stepped forward, her eyes flashing dangerously. “Take care how you speak to us, shepherd,” she growled.

“Regina didn’t do anything!” Emma piped up, her small voice echoing across the room. All four adults stopped and looked down at Emma. “She…she didn’t do anything bad. I left my room last night.” She bit her lip, looking down and away from her parents. David knelt before Emma and opened his arms to her. “I’m sorry,” she whispered softly.

“It’s okay, honey,” David murmured, kissing her temple. “You want to tell us what happened?”

“Y’gotta put the swords and the fireballs away,” Emma ordered with a little edge of nervousness to her voice. “Please?” Her green eyes were wide and pleading; David put his sword down almost immediately. “Mama?” the little girl offered.

When her plea to her mother didn’t quite work, Emma turned her request to Regina and Maleficent. “Please?” she asked softly. Maleficent stepped down and Regina, slowly, but surely lowered her fireball.

“Emma,” Snow told her daughter, her hand curling tighter around the hilt of her sword. “She’s the Evil Queen. We can’t trust her.”

“She’s not the Evil Queen,” Emma replied firmly. With a little smile, she added, “That’s Regina, and she’s my friend.”

* * *

“Mama, you wouldn’t have killed each other,” Emma said, with a little roll of her eyes, looking between her mother and godmother. “You would’ve listened to her _eventually_. You would’ve had to.” She looked back at her father and Maleficent who were shaking their heads. 

“Emma, when we were planning your coronation ceremony, your mother and Regina fought for two days on which appetizers were most appropriate,” David chuckled. “Actually, I think if you listen very closely, you can still hear them fighting about whether or not the meat with peppers should be served.”

“Her skin breaks out in hives if she eats peppers!” Snow proclaimed.

“She didn’t have to eat them if she knows she can’t! Despite being raised by the two of you, she turned out pretty smart,” Regina huffed in reply. “It’s not like there aren’t things for her to eat. That’s why we have that gross chicken.”

“We have the gross chicken because you insisted your wife needed to eat something rare! Who serves practically rare chicken at a coronation ceremony, Regina?”

“She’s a dragon, what do you expect? It’s not like she could just pick up sheep off the countryside because you told us we couldn’t do that anymore!”

“She’s the only one eating it!"  
  
“There won’t be any left, I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal out of this!” 

“They love each other. Really, they do. They just have about a decade and a half of anger to work out first,” Maleficent said with a smirk.

“Twenty-two years wasn’t long enough for them for them to work out their issues?” David laughed, and he and Maleficent tapped their wine glasses together. Emma just smiled fondly.

Maleficent nodded toward Emma. “They care deeply for you, my girl. Just as we all do.”   
  
Emma smiled affectionately and hugged her godmother tightly. “I know,” she said softly. “And I wouldn’t change it for the world.”


End file.
